Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to exterior and interior illumination schemes for appliances.
State of the Art
Many appliances, although not all, are for indoor use. Depending on ambient light conditions, it can be desirable and even necessary to provide illumination relative the appliance.
For example, an enclosed cabinet of a refrigerated appliance typically has some automatic illumination when a door or drawer is opened to assist the user with visual identification of contents.
The prototypical illumination is what will be called “active” in the sense that it either requires user selection or some manual activity to instigate it. An example is opening a refrigerator door. That selected and manual activity triggers a light source or sources on. Closing the door turns them off. This is seen, of course, as convenient to the user. An alternative would be like a light switch on the wall. The user selects when the lights are on and when to turn them off.
Conventional light sources comprise incandescent or sometimes fluorescent or HID lamps. In a refrigerator environment, competing factors must be considered when deciding location and access to such lamps. For example, it is usually desirable to maximize storage capacity of the interior compartments of an appliance such as a refrigerator. Incandescent, fluorescent, and many HID sources require a socket. Because they have relatively limited life spans, they also require access for replacement. They also have a substantial size (usually on the order of an inch or more in longest dimension).
Another factor is protection against the refrigerator environment. There can be liquids or other substances that could adversely affect a light source and its electrical connection. Cold temperatures can also be a factor. It can also be a challenge to control light output from these sources to effectively illuminate what is desired.
Therefore, at least space, power, durability, effectiveness of illumination, and other considerations must be balanced by the designer.
As mentioned, one solution is a single relatively large incandescent source, exposed sufficiently to illuminate a substantial part of each major compartment of the refrigerated appliance, but protected in the liner or under an enclosed cover that is removable for replacement of the light source. The light source turns on when the refrigerator door is opened by responding to a switch that closes the circuit when the door is open and it turns the light off when the door is closed.
However, as can be appreciated by the foregoing, such an arrangement provides one illumination scheme. An incandescent source in the side wall or under a cover that must be removable either occupies substantial space in the refrigerator or tends to limit the effectiveness of the illumination of the whole cabinet.
Lighting can be functional but also highly aesthetic. A primary example is with theatrical lighting. Not only does it allow the audience to visually perceive the stage, it can add drama, mood, direct attention, or otherwise provide a combination of functional aesthetic benefits.
Such lighting is under the expert control of a professional lighting engineer or at least a human that again actively controls the lighting schemes as they change. This involves not only resources, but some complexity and monitoring to make sure the lighting scheme tracks the required changes of the script.
Of course, such things as consumer appliances have another factor that must be considered. Cost and economy of components, features, and operations come into play. This includes not only design, component, and assembly cost, but operational costs to the end user.
These types of issues also relate to other appliances and to other devices or structures that can benefit from illumination.
In more modern times, a variety of lighting or illumination options have been developed including consumer appliances. For example, the assignee of the present invention has patented a photosensitive switch to dim an in-door external water/ice dispenser light at night. The desirable consumer feature of an exterior water and/or ice dispenser is illuminated at a dimmer intensity when a sensor indicates ambient light has dropped below a threshold. When the user activates either the ice or water dispenser by pushing a button with a finger or with a cup or container, the intensity is automatically raised. In both situations, however, a single lighting effect is instigated and then requires manual activity to remove it. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,851,662, incorporated by reference herein.
The assignee of the present invention has also patented a system to measure a condition and regulate intensity of lighting. The monitored condition can be ambient light, motion, sound, moisture, or proximity of a user. Any of those things can trigger a light on. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,804,974 incorporated by reference herein. Again, however, this is a monitoring and then single action response.
It has therefore been discovered that the predominant methodology with appliances that have lighting interiorly or exteriorly is to activate illumination on a single trigger such as opening a door or some detection. As mentioned above, this might turn lighting on. A problem is whether or not the lighting is effective and/or aesthetic.
A need has been recognized in the art for improvement in providing good lighting interiorially or exteriorally for an appliance or other device that benefits from lighting.
A need has also been recognized for providing lighting effects or a sequence of lighting effects based on consumer engagement distance or interaction points, or response to movement. A need has also been identified for allowing high flexibility, for example, recalibration or automatic adjustment, of sensors relative to changed environment around the appliance.